Domestic markets in Latin America and the Caribbean exceed 2019 traffic levels

Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) exceeded its 2019 passenger traffic levels for the second time this year. However, this month, the Middle East ranked as the world’s highest recovering region, exceeding its May 2019 levels with 3.2%.

The region is showing an excellent performance in terms of both domestic and international passenger traffic. It is noteworthy that, for the first-time post-pandemic, Brazil exceeded domestic passenger figures with 7.3 million passengers (+3%). Meanwhile, Argentina and Chile continue to trend higher, outperforming their 2019 levels.

Aviation has proven to be an essential service for the population. An evidence on this is that some of the countries with lower economic growth have been the ones with the highest passenger carried, such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, where Mexico and Colombia are fully recovered both in domestic and international traffic.

The World Bank estimates a slowdown in LAC economic growth to 1.5% in 2023, down 0.2 percentage points from its January 2023 forecast, so tight monetary policies are expected this year due to continued high domestic inflation. However, with unemployment rates at historically low levels, even below pre-pandemic levels, demand for air travel is expected to keep steady even though consumer purchasing power has been reduced by inflation.

All of these factors depict a complex picture, making State Agendas all the more important today to further develop an essential sector that creates jobs and opportunities.

This topic will be addressed at the ALTA AGM & Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun on October 22-24, where industry decision makers (public and private) will bring together to discuss the most pressing challenges and opportunities in the region.